2019 UEFA Nations League Finals
| top_scorer = Cristiano Ronaldo | nextseason = 2021 }} The 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2018–19 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The tournament will be held by one of the finalists from 5 to 9 June 2019, and will be contested by the four group winners of Nations League A. The tournament will consist of two semi-finals, a third place play-off, and a final to determine the inaugural champions of the UEFA Nations League. Format The Nations League Finals will take place in June 2019 and be contested by the four group winners of League A. These four teams were drawn into groups of five teams for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying group stage, therefore leaving the June 2019 window open in order to compete in the Nations League Finals. The competition will take place in June 2019 and be played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and final. The semi-final pairings, along with the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final, are determined by means of an open draw. The draw took place on 3 December 2018, 14:30 CET (13:30 local time) at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. The winners of the final will be crowned as the inaugural champions of the UEFA Nations League. The tournament will take place over five days, with the semi-finals on 5 and 6 June and the third place play-off and final on 9 June. All matches in the tournament will utilise the goal-line technology system. The Nations League Finals are played in single-leg knockout matches. If the scores are level at the end of normal time, 30 minutes of extra time is played. If the scores are still level, the winner is determined by a penalty shoot-out. Qualified teams The four group winners of League A qualify for the Nations League Finals. Host selection Portugal was officially selected as the host country by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 3 December 2018 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Only League A teams could bid for the Nations League Finals, and only the one of the four participants could be selected as hosts. The Nations League Finals will be held in two stadiums, each with a seating capacity of at least 30,000. Ideally, the stadiums should be located in the same host city or up to approximately 150 km apart. On 9 March 2018, UEFA announced that Italy, Poland, and Portugal expressed interest in bidding prior to the deadline. The deadline to submit their dossiers is 31 August 2018. As all three associations form Group A3, the group winner is in line to be appointed as the host, provided that the associations submit bids which meet UEFA's requirements. Poland were eliminated from winning (and also relegated from) Group A3 on 14 October 2018, leaving Italy and Portugal as the potential hosts. Portugal won Group A3 and advanced to the Finals on 17 November 2018, confirming as the hosts, subject to formal appointment by the UEFA Executive Committee on 3 December 2018, the same day as the Finals draw. Venues In their bid dossier, the Portuguese Football Federation proposed Estádio do Dragão in Porto and Estádio D. Afonso Henriques in Guimarães as the venues. Squads Each national team had to submit a squad of 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers, at least ten days before the opening match of the tournament. If a player became injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament before his team's first match, he would be replaced by another player. Bracket Times are local, WEST (UTC+1). |3| |1 |6 June — Guimarães| |3| |1 |9 June 2019 – Porto|' '|1| |0 |9 June 2019 – Guimarães| |0 (5)|' ' |0 (6) }} Semi-finals Portugal v Switzerland |time=19:45 |team1= |score=3–1 |report=Report |team2= |goals1=Ronaldo |goals2=Rodríguez |stadium=Estádio do Dragão, Porto |attendance=42,415 |referee=Dr. Felix Brych }} Netherlands v England |time=19:45 |team1= |score=3–1 |aet=yes |report=UEFA Report BBC Report |team2= |goals1=De Ligt Walker Promes |goals2=Rashford |stadium=Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães |attendance=25,711 |referee=Clément Turpin (France) }} Third place play-off |time=15:00 (14:00 UTC+1) |team1= |score=0–0 |aet=yes |report=Report |team2= |goals1= |goals2= |stadium=Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães |attendance=15,742 |referee=Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania) |penalties1=Zuber Xhaka Akanji Mbabu Schär Drmić |penaltyscore=5–6 |penalties2= Maguire Barkley Sancho Sterling Pickford Dier }} Final |time=19:45 WEST |team1= |score=1–0 |report=Report |team2= |goals1=Guedes |goals2= |stadium=Estádio do Dragão, Porto |attendance=43,199 |referee=Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain) }} Statistics Goalscorers Cristiano Ronaldo |1 goal= * Marcus Rashford * Matthijs de Ligt * Quincy Promes * Gonçalo Guedes * Ricardo Rodríguez |1 own goal= * Kyle Walker (against Netherlands) }} Awards ;Team of the Tournament UEFA announced a team of the tournament based on the FedEx Performance Zone player rankings. ;Player of the Tournament The Player of the Tournament award was given to Bernardo Silva, who was chosen by UEFA's technical observers. * Bernardo Silva ;Young Player of the Tournament The SOCAR Young Player of the Tournament award was open to players born on or after 1 January 1996. The award was given to Frenkie de Jong, as chosen by UEFA's technical observers. * Frenkie de Jong ;Top Scorer The "Alipay Top Scorer Trophy", given to the top scorer in the Nations League Finals, was awarded to Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick in the semi-final against Switzerland. The ranking was determined using the following criteria: 1) goals in Nations League Finals, 2) assists in Nations League Finals, 3) fewest minutes played in Nations League Finals, 4) goals in league phase 5) fewest yellow and red cards in Nations League Finals, 6) fewest yellow and red cards in league phase. Gonçalo Guedes was ranked second, while Marcus Rashford finished third. * Cristiano Ronaldo – 3 goals ;Goal of the Tournament The SOCAR Goal of the Tournament will be decided by online voting. A total four goals were in the shortlist from two players: Cristiano Ronaldo (all three goals against Switzerland) and Matthijs de Ligt (against England). Discipline A player is automatically suspended for the next match for receiving a red card, which may be extended for serious offences. Yellow card suspensions do not apply in the Nations League Finals. The following suspensions were served during the tournament: Prize money The prize money to be distributed was announced in October 2018. In addition to the €2.25 million solidarity fee for participating in the Nations League, the four participants will receive an additional €2.25M for winning their groups and qualifying for the Nations League Finals. In addition, the participants will receive payment based on performance: * Winners: €6M * Runners-up: €4.5M * Third place: €3.5M * Fourth place: €2.5M This means that the maximum amount of solidarity and bonus fees for the UEFA Nations League winners is €10.5M. External links * Finals